BILL ANALYSIS Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary Senator Christine Kehoe, Chair 346 (Kehoe) Hearing Date: 05/26/2009 Amended: 05/20/2009 Consultant: Brendan McCarthy Policy Vote: EQ 5-2 SB 346 (Kehoe) Page 2 _________________________________________________________________ ____ BILL SUMMARY: SB 346 would reduce the use of copper and other heavy metals in automobile brake friction materials starting in 2014. The bill provides for a fee on brake friction materials sold in the state to fund the activities specified in the bill. _________________________________________________________________ ____ Fiscal Impact (in thousands) Major Provisions 2009-10 2010-11 2011-12 Fund New fee revenues ($7,000) ($14,000) Special * DTSC - developing criteria, $35 $260 $850Special * establishing baseline data SWRCB - reporting up to $250Special * OEHHA - reporting up to $160Special * Grants for water quality $6,700 $12,740Special * improvement * Brake Friction Materials Water Pollution Fund (new special fund). _________________________________________________________________ ____ STAFF COMMENTS: SB 346 would reduce the use of copper and other heavy metals in automobile brake friction materials (for example, brake pads). After January 2014, the bill would prohibit the sale of brake friction materials which contain certain heavy metals in concentrations over specified limits. After January 2021, the bill would prohibit the sale of brake friction materials containing more than 5% copper by weight. After January 2032, the bill would prohibit the sale of brake friction materials containing more than 0.5% copper by weight. Beginning in 2014, SB 346 (Kehoe) Page 2 the bill requires brake friction material manufacturers to obtain certification of their compliance with the requirements of the bill. The bill would require the Department of Toxic Substances Control to perform a baseline survey of various heavy metals in brake friction materials and then to perform periodic monitoring of those metals. If the concentration of any of those metals rise more than 50% over the baseline level, the bill requires the Department consult with the State Water Resources Control Board and/or the Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment on the impacts of those changes. Beginning in January 2011, the bill requires the Department to assess a fee of $1 per set of brake friction materials sold in the state to fund the regulatory requirements of the bill, including outreach, monitoring, regulatory costs, and environmental mitigation of metals covered by the bill. (Currently, the number of brake friction material sets sold in the state is estimated to be about 14 million per year.) In January 2012 and every year thereafter, the bill requires the Department to adjust the fee level for inflation. In January 2016 and every two years thereafter, the bill requires the Department to adjust the fee, such that total revenues fall between $13 million and $16 million per year (in 2011 dollars). The bill requires that revenues generated from the fee be used to implement the requirements of the bill and for grants to improve water quality in water bodies that receive runoff containing pollution from brake friction materials. Staff notes that some of the expenditures under the bill will occur before the fee is enacted. Those costs can be covered by the existing balance in the Hazardous Waste Control Account, until sufficient fee revenues are generated to repay the fund.